Thursday, February 18, 2010

Would You Like a Spot of Tea?

I felt like I should have been sippin' on some hot Earl Grey with this hearty Traditional English Breakfast platter:

How traditional and English is it? I have no idea. It's from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet. She says she grew up eating this dish with her English parents. And my good pal Poopie Bitch is married to a British dude, and he loves beans on toast. So it sounds pretty English to me.

Though the recipe is easy and delicious, there are quite a few steps to undertake in the morning. A slice of sourdough bread is broiled with Tofutti American cheese (not English, I know ... but hey, it's what I had and it melts beautifully). That's topped with steamed spinach, Eden Organics baked beans (no sugar added!), sauteed mushrooms, and a broiled tomato half.

Unfortunately, my January no-coffee cleanse burned me out on hot tea. I'm just plain sick of it. So I sipped on some iced agave-sweetened green tea with my brekkie instead.

Yep it looks like a much healthier version of a British fry! ;) In Ireland we have similar traditional breakfast - sausages, pudding (made from pig's blood, yuck!!), tomatoes, toast, beans...we never have greens though, heh!Check out the artery-clogging breakfast here: http://to55er.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/english-breakfast-blackpudding.jpgLuckily there are places in Ireland to get good vegan/veggie versions of Irish breakfasts.

Hot damn, that is one of the best breakfasts ever. I met my husband in England (though neither of us is British), and we always used to go to this nasty diner where all the construction workers ate. Beans (but they have to be in tomato sauce, like Heinz) on toast, with a burnt tomato will give you lots of energy, and keep you warm and full until lunchtime. The second best way to eat baked beans is over a baked (jacket) potato!

Wow, this looks damn good. I have to admit, I always thought the traditional English breakfast was as weird as Vegemite - but I spent some time in England last year and grew to like the idea (and the taste).

Bianca this looks so YUM! I love a good English breakfast, but it has been way too long since I've made one. I love beans on toast....well, I love most things on toast, it just makes it taste better, doesn't it? Thanks for this idea!

Awesome! I have that book and so far I've made the cuban style sweet potatoes and the black eyed pea croquettes - both delicious!

In case you didn't see my reply about the grams to ounces conversion - I am too lazy to convert anything and my kickass kitchen scale takes care of that for me. My brain and math don't like each other! :)

oh man, beans on toast sounds so good, Bianca! i love that you're digging The Kind Diet so much - it's such a great book! :D i too burned out on tea a while ago. i was drinking like 5 cups a day and now i just can get up enough courage to try it again. i just kinda over did it for a while there. ah ha ha!

My name is Bianca ...

About Me

I'm a 9-year vegan, 19-year vegetarian from the Mid-South, not too far from the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. And that means cornbread, butter beans, and collard greens.
These days, I live in Memphis. Check out my cookbook — Cookin' Crunk. It's filled with yummilicious veganized soul food and country classics.